Cisco President Pushes Bandwidth Tiers

The President of computer company Cisco Systems says his company suports an open Internet, but also says the government does not need to legislate so-called network neutrality--nondiscrimination in access to their networks by independent Internet service providers.

In a letter to House Commerce Commitee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Tex.), John Chambers said that he agreed with Barton's "first do no harm" approach. He said that network operators "should not block, degrade or impair end users' access and choice," but they should also be free to "engage in pro-competitive network-management techniques."

Network-neutrality supporters want the government to prevent access providers from offering tiered Internet access services, but Chambers said in the letter that ISPs should be free to offer "bandwidth tiers" or allow third parties to offer them.